Good Homemade Brunswick Stew Recipes?

Good Homemade Brunswick Stew Recipes?

It's that time of year again when all your church's and Volunteer Fire Dept's have their annual "Brunswick Stew" get togethers. I have never gone to any of them but have always wondered what Brunswick Stew tastes like. I know how Dinty Moore makes it (with extra grease). But what I would like to find is a really good homemade Brunswick Stew recipe. Anyone have one to share?

Dinty Moore does not make Brunswick Stew. Dinty Moore makes beef stew, chicken stew and turkey stew, but no Brunswick Stew. There are companies that can Brunswick stew, or at least what they call Brunswick stew. Brunswick stew was originally made with squirrel. Since then, it has also been made with rabbit, and today's effete dining habits have caused Brunswick stew cooks to start using chicken or pork instead of game. If you want recipes for Brunswick stew I suggest that you Google Brunswick Stew Recipes. I did, and I got 92,400 hits.

Castlebury may be what I am thinking of then....but I know there are canned Brunswick Stews at the grocery stores.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the way I read the last part of your post sounded like you were almost disuading me from asking for a recipe in this forum.

I am well aware of the ability to Google for a recipe, I do it all the time. But I "thought" that someone may have a recipe that might be a little more interesting that what can be had on the net. And just because you got 92k hits doesn't mean that there are 92k different recipes for Brunswick Stew.

Just wanted to hear from some of the members here to see what they had that might be really good since that has been the case in the past. That's all I was trying to do. But if you insist I can take this post down and go to Google from now on.

Ok so you want a recipe for Brunswick stew. A chickenA piece of pork shoulder about 3# or so.Any game you haveLarge can tomatoesFrozen packages or fresh--corn, 6-8 potatoes, lima beans and onions.Start meat in cold water and cook until tenderDebone and return meat to stock w/ most of vegiesSimmer until wooden spoon will stand in stew. maybe six to eight hoursAdd rest of vegies and cook until they are tenderAdd a few dashes of worstershire sauce, adjust salt and pepper to taste.Some at this point will add a one or two packages of saltine crackers. I just put them on the table and let folks do as they please.

Brunswick stew really doesn't have a hard recipe...what ya got will do. Lima beans, potatoes and corn are the only items that are a constant.

Is there a list somewhere of the recipes we're encouraged to ask for and the recipes that are frowned upon? This IS the "Recipes & Cooking Techniques" forum, isn't it? Or am I lost yet again? Maybe after I get more than 3,000 posts I'll have it all figured out.

OH, back to the topic at hand. Brunswick stew. Rex, you really should pop in at one of those church or fire department dinners and try the good homemade stuff. Nothing in a can could possibly be as delicious. Plus you'll get to meet your neighbors.

I have had Brunswick stew in numerous places and one thing is consistent as they are all inconsistant.

It seems to me they use the stew as a way to use left over BBQ. From there on out, they seem to use whatever they have.

Regardless, I enjoy it at most of the BBQ places I have attended.

I will be attending the Moonlight BBQ in Owensboro, KY with the Glee Club in February. I will bet that they have a version but I will bet it will be made with goat and they will call it something else.

I was there just a few weeks ago and I forgot to notice whether it was on their menu or not?

At the risk of enraging "real Southerners" - I'd suggest the Vegetarian Brunswick stew from a Moosewood cookbook (it's the one with all the ethnic categories - Moosewood cooks on the weekend or something like that) I'd post the recipe but I am at work and my cookbook is at home! If anyone wants it, let me know and I'll post it this weekend.

I think the taste is cleaner and fresher than others I've had, maybe because Brunswick stew is good place to dump leftovers in many restaurants.

OH, back to the topic at hand. Brunswick stew. Rex, you really should pop in at one of those church or fire department dinners and try the good homemade stuff. Nothing in a can could possibly be as delicious. Plus you'll get to meet your neighbors.

Good idea of going to the church or fire department events. I'm pretty sure the ones who made it would gladly share their recipes and tips! You not only support a local cause, but ya might learn something, and worse comes to worse, eat well!

Simmer the chicken in seasoned boiling water until tender. Remove chicken from bones and dice. Return chicken pot with broth. Add all ingredients except corn, nutmeg and lemon juice. Add enough liquid to cover. Cook until mixture begins to thicken but is still soupy. This will take a couple of hours. Add corn towards end of cooking time. Season with lemon juice, and nutmeg. Serve over rice with tabasco sauce.

M H is correct and wrong all at the same time!! It's kind of like a "letter of the Law and Spirit of the law" thing. I have enjoyed both Burgoo and Brunswick stew. They have a number of things in common... They look alike, They smell pretty much the same, The variations in specific recipes are almost endless, and in most cases they have a common thread of taste. That said, the Burgoo that we enjoy along the Ohio River tends to be focused on the Owensboro version of the product and that does contain pieces of mutton. The recipe that is served at the huge Post-Derby Breakfast in Bardstown, KY every year does not...and it is called Burgoo also. You can order some of the Mutton-based Burgoo using the website for the Moonlite BBQ in Owensboro if you are interested in testing the 'soup' it matches any Brunswick Stew I found 'Over East'.

M H is correct and wrong all at the same time!! It's kind of like a "letter of the Law and Spirit of the law" thing. I have enjoyed both Burgoo and Brunswick stew. They have a number of things in common... They look alike, They smell pretty much the same, The variations in specific recipes are almost endless, and in most cases they have a common thread of taste. That said, the Burgoo that we enjoy along the Ohio River tends to be focused on the Owensboro version of the product and that does contain pieces of mutton. The recipe that is served at the huge Post-Derby Breakfast in Bardstown, KY every year does not...and it is called Burgoo also. You can order some of the Mutton-based Burgoo using the website for the Moonlite BBQ in Owensboro if you are interested in testing the 'soup' it matches any Brunswick Stew I found 'Over East'.

Hey, Al, I'm not wrong at all. I said I've never eaten Burgoo that didn't have mutton or oppossum. I haven't.

I'm going to make the wife and I a pot of Brunswick stew this week. Unfortunately, we are fresh out of squirrel. We'll have to do with chicken and pork...also some leftover smoked brisket from the freezer. Brunswick stew is a great way to use up leftover meats.

Many make it with chicken but if I was going to make it I would definitely make it with store bought rabbit rather than chicken. My Kroger has it in the freezer section near the capons.

The old time way to make it is with squirrel though as mentioned. I've read that squirrel should be essentially kashered first ... somehow this seems an oxymoron. (Tfeh!) I think brining sounds as likely.

Directions:Clean, dress and cut up squirrels and chickens. If your folks are not ardent squirrel hunters, increase the number of chickens. If you use all chickens, this recipe will take 24 stewing chickens.

Bring 4 gals. water to boil in 30-gal. iron kettle. Add squirrel and chicken pieces. Cook, stirring often, until meat comes off the bone. (Take out pieces of bone before serving to small children.) Add remainder of water, as needed.

Chop salt pork, fry out and add pork and drippings to boiling mixture. Add beans, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots and corn in order as each is prepared. Continue cooking and stirring until vegetables are tender.

Add cabbage and seasonings, and cook, stirring, 1 hour, until stew is thick and flavors well blended. Remove kettle from coals to serving area by hooking handle over a heavy pole, several helpers carrying each end. Makes 15 gallons.

Even though the folklore says that the safe way to avoid rabbit fever is to only eat rabbit (or squirrel) taken between the first and last frost or never eat them in a month that doesn't have a "R" in it ... still I'd likely not. Eating squirrel or wild rabbit can cause "rabbit fever" - tularemia.

I think the Brunswick just needs lima beans. I don't care much for Brunswick stew, reminds me of a cholent. I'd much rather have a nice Guyana Pepperpot that has been sitting on the stovetop for a week. Cassreep, cinnamon, cloves, hot pepper in beef, oh....... You can find good recipes on the internet if you choose, but you need the Cassreep.